Illuminating and safety lamp



March 21, 1939.4 D. ANGLADA 2,151,179

ILLUMINATING AND SAFETYILAMP Filed May 28. 193'? 2 Sheets-Shee l Hinwil/Mi WITNESS INVENTOR /1 TTORNEYS March 2l, 1939. D- ANGLADA 2,151,179

ILLUMINATING AND SAFETY LAMP Filed May 28, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 WITNESS INVENTOR A TTORNE YS Patented Manzl, 1939 ILLUMINATING AND SAFETY LAlVIP Domingo Anglada, Bronx, N. Y., assignor to Wolf Safety Lamp Co. of America, Inc., Brooklyn, N. Y, a. corporation of New York Application May 28, 1937, Serial No. 145,183

1 Claim.

This invention relates to illuminating and safety lamps. of the type which utilize calcium carbide as a fuel from which a gas is generated by the introduction of water to the carbide.

Carbide lamps have been in the market for some years, types of such lamps being illustrated in my United States Patents` Nos. 1,617,432 and 1,820,642, which types of lamps have been extenA sively manufactured and sold, particularly to railroads and subway systems, and used in connection with the inspection and repair of tracks and the control of trains. It is to be noted that such carbide lamps are usually made in two parts: The lower portion which embodies the carbide chamber and the upper portion which embodies the water chamber, the parts necessary in order to bring about the proper relation and the cooperation of the water and the carbide and the burning of the gas being in part carried by the upper portion and in part by the lower portion. It has been the practice in the manufacture of such lamps to locate some of the attaching and operating parts to the upper portion of the lamp and some to the lower portion, but this practice has been the source of considerable injury to the lamps and of failure of the lamp to function properly. The gas generated in the lampl of course sets up pressure and any injury to the lamp parts causes leakage of the gas and the consequent failure of the lamp to function. The lamps are subjected to` hard usage, not only in the ordinary handling thereof in and about railroads and subway systems, but also when the carbide becomes exhausted and it is necessary to clean out the carbide chamber and replace the same with a new charge.

The object of the present invention is to associate all of the delicate attaching and operating parts to the upper portion of the lamp and to provide the lower portion or carbide carrying member of a sturdy construction, free of the delicate attaching and operating parts. It has been found that railroad workmen who utilize the carbide lamps will handle the upper portion of the lamp which carries the lens, with care, particu-i larly when the upperand lower portions of the lamp are dissociated, but the lower portion of the lamp is subjected to considerable rough handling during the use of the lamp and in removing the spent carbide and replenishing with a new charge. The present invention was devised in order to take advantage of the tendency of the workmen to handle, protect and guard the upper portion of the lamp from rough usage and I have transferred to that portion of the lamp all the delicate operating parts and have made the bottom portion of the lamp strong and sturdy, and eliminated therefrom the delicate attaching and operating parts, and have provided a structure free of crevices or pockets in which the spent carbide can stick and therefore not readily accessible to removal. The construction of the bottom portion of the lamp of this invention, when the old charge is to be removed from the lamp, will not be damaged should it be tapped or struck against a hard surface in order to dislodge the spent and caked carbide, nor are there any exposed parts which can be injured.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the complete lamp; Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a plan View of the lamp; Fig. 4 is a View of the rear of the lamp with the handle removed and a portion of the rear wall of the carbide chamber removed; Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4, and Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6 6 of Fig. 4.

The upper portion or casing I of the lamp, as will be observable from an inspection of Fig. 2, is hollow to provide a water chamber 2, to which access is obtained for lling by lifting the cap 3. The lens housing 4 carrying the lens 5 is attached to the top casing I by the brackets 6. The rear lens 1 is in alignment with the burner 8 and light from said burner is transmitted to the rear lens through the tube 9 aligned with the burner. The handle IIJ is attached to the top of the casing I. The water duct I I communicates with the water chamber 2 and is provided with a valve member I2 which is operable through the stem I3, finger piece I4 and the screw thread I5 in order to increase or decrease the admission of water to the carbide chamber as the nger piece is operated, which parts are all carried by the bottom plate I6 which is part of the shell of the casing I and the arch top I'I of the casing. The bottom plate I6 is provided with an aperture I8 for the escape of the acetylene gas from the carbide chamber through the burner tube I9 to the burner 8. The plate I6 is also provided with a stud 20 suitably formed thereon and adapted to support a device 2I for pressing against and retaining the filtering material 22 which overlies the aperture I8, requiring the acetylene gas to pass through the filtering material before it reaches the burner. The device 2I is in effect a clamp consisting of a circular plate 23 and a U-shaped clamping member 24 attached by the ngers 24a. to the plate 23. The U-shaped clamp frictionally engages the stud 20 and can be pressed downward with a sliding motion, thereby permitting the plate to be pressed firmly against the filtering material, the whole being retained in place by the frctional engagement of the U-clamp 24 and the stud 20.

The lower portion 25 of the top casing I is made of a separate piece of sheet material formed with the screw threads 26 which extend beyond the end of the section 25 and its bottom plate I6. The burner tube I9 and the stud 20 are secured to the portion 25 by solder, such portion being readily accessible for the attachmentY of these parts before it is united to the main portion of the casing I. The screw threads 26 at the base thereof are surrounded by an annular circular wall 21 which is slightly inclined in a direction upwardly and outwardly with respect to the screw threads. The lower portion 28 of the lamp is substantially barrel-shaped, the internal portion 29 thereof constituting the carbide chamber. The main portion of the barrel-shaped member 28 is preferably made of a single piece of brass or other sheet material drawn to the configuration shown and provided 'with circumferential beads 36 for the purpose o-f strengthening the same. The mouth of the member 28 is equipped with a member 3l made of two associated ring-like members 32 and 33. The inner ring-like member 33 is provided with a flange 34 adapted to fit on the outside of the edge of the mouth of the barrel-shaped member 28 having an annular wall35 which slopes inwardly and downwardly substantially paralleling the plane of the wall 21 formed in the upper member. Screw threads 36 are formed in the depending portion of the ring-like member 33 for co-action with the threads 26. The outer ring member 32 is provided with an annular flange 31 which is of such a size as to permit insertion thereof through the mouth of the member 28 and to snugly fit the inner wall thereof. The said member 32 is formed with the walls 38 and 39 for attachment by soldering or welding to the member 33. It will be noted that the member 3| is a unitary structure and can be inserted into the open mouth of the barrel-shaped bottom 28 and soldered or welded in place. The bottom of the member 28 has attached thereto a bell-like support 40 by soldering or otherwise to provide a stand upon which the lamp may set, the lower portion of the member 28 extending through this bell, as shown in Fig. 4.

The upper portion l of the lamp carrying all the delicate operating parts is attachable to the barrel member 28 by interengagement of the screw portions 26 and 36 with an annular rubber washer 4I interposed between the walls 21 and 35. The washer 4I, though normally fiat, will, when squeezing pressure is applied thereto by screwing together the two parts, conform in shape to the said walls 21 and 35 and make a tightjoint between the upper and lower portions.

I claim:

In a carbide lamp, a water chamber arranged in the top of said lamp, and a barrel-like carbide chamber adapted to'be removably secured to the water chamber, the Vcarbide chamber having an open top, an attaching member secured to the carbide chamberat the open end thereof, said attaching member having a wall spaced from the l body of said carbide chamber and substantially concentric therewith, said wall being providedv with screw threads, said attaching member having an outwardly and upwardly inclined circumferential surface extending from the uppermost course of said screw threads and over the top edge of the carbide chamber body, the said screw threads and the innermost edge of said inclined wall being below the outermost circumferential edge of said inclined surface, the water chamber being provided with an extension, screw threads on said extension, an inclined wall near the position of said screw threads, the last mentioned inclined wall corresponding, in its inclination, to the inclination of the wall of said carbide chamber, a resilient sealing member arranged between said inclined walls andbeing adapted to be uniformly compressed between said walls when the water chamber and the carbide chamber are secured together by the interengagement of said screw threads, said sealing member, when com` pressed, conforming at its top and bottom surfaces to the inclined surfaces, thereby sealing the union of the water chamber and the carbide chamber against the escape of gas developed inV said carbide chamber, the screw threads on said 

